The marmot and the writer's nook

I saw this year’s first marmot a few days ago. For anyone unfamiliar with marmots, they are quite simply the best. They are oversized guinea pigs who sleep for half their lives, and emerge ground-level for the Spring, skinny, very hungry, and annoyed at the residual snow (it hangs about well past its welcome here).

This is an excerpt from my Substack post. If you'd prefer to read it there, click here. Of course, you may well prefer to stay here... if so, do just that!

They hibernate in extensive burrows, which they plug with dirt, feces and vegetables to keep themselves safe from the horrendous lows of winter temperatures.

A marmot. My favourite rodent.

Aside from our shared snow-irritation, I feel a great affinity with these creatures. Unfortunately, I never slump out of winter skinny, but I am always hungry. Also, I appreciate a well-defined nook in which I can cower from the horrendous lows of everyday life in 2025.

I don’t plug mine with dirt and feces, though.

So, the marmot got me thinking about nooks. Specifically, the writing nook.

The nook is a staple of most (if not all?) writers’ daily output. They come in all shapes and sizes. Mine is currently the corner of a right-angled sofa. My cheetah-jungle cushion supports my left arm, and my peacock Liberty cushion supports the side of my left thigh. There are two blankets. There is one cat. I can’t conceive of writing anywhere else in the house.

My nook.

The official Merriam Webster definition of the word is “an interior angle formed by two meeting walls”. The etymology is a little shaky, with the term possibly deriving from Proto-Indo-European “ken”, meaning “to pinch, press, bend”.

Whether or not a writer’s nook physically inhabits the pinch of two walls, it is certainly the location of the pinching, pressing and bending of ideas. Nooks are the places writers go to avoid distraction and manipulate thoughts. They are the unassuming corners playing home to cavernous imaginations.

One of my favourite nook descriptions is from Pliny the Elder, the Roman author and naturalist, in his letter about his Laurentian villa which was located a few miles out of Rome. Two writing nooks are identifiable, and he goes to touching lengths to describe them. The first is adorned with his favourite works of literature:

“Adjoining this angle is a room forming the segment of a circle, the windows of which are so arranged as to get the sun all through the day: in the walls are contrived a sort of cases, containing a collection of authors who can never be read too often.”

It sounds magical, doesn’t it? Lighting is such an essential consideration in creating a successful nook. Here, he opted to keep his most treasured books.

Plan of Pliny's villa.

The second is found in Pliny’s garden:

“When I retire to this garden summer-house, I fancy myself a hundred miles away from my villa, and take especial pleasure in it at the feast of the Saturnalia, when, by the licence of that festive season, every other part of my house resounds with my servants’ mirth: thus I neither interrupt their amusement nor they my studies.”

A key component of the Saturnalia festival was a reversal in roles between slave and master. It was a celebration known for heavy, ludicrous partying. I love imagining Pliny quietly removing himself from the festivities and settling down to write in his garden nook.

I wouldn’t be a mystery writer worth my salt without mentioning one of the most eccentric writing nooks in history: Agatha Christie’s bath. In a 1966 interview with the New York Times, she said, "I got my plots in the tub, (…) just sitting there thinking, undisturbed, and lining the rim with apple cores."

Really, I feel everyone should have a nook, not just writers and marmots. The world seems to be getting trickier, angrier, by the day. A quiet corner, a safe space for your most silly ideas, a place for comfort and contemplation, can only be a good thing.

In other news…

I’m excited to report I’ve signed a publishing contract with Bloodhound Books for a mystery thriller which will be released in January 2026. I can’t say much but I can say that if a mixture of White Lotus and Agatha Christie piques your interest, then watch this space!